System for polyphasic sleep management, method of its operation, device for sleep analysis, method of current sleep phase classification and use of the system and the device in polyphasic sleep management

Abstract

The object of the present invention is a system for polyphasic sleep management, characterized by the fact it comprises components such as electrodes for measuring a biological signal; a biological amplifier for amplifying the biological signal; a microcontroller for controlling individual system components, such as a biological amplifier and an accelerometer, as well as for communication with an external device; an accelerometer for collecting data relating to user's movement frequency; an external device, such as a computer, tablet and a mobile phone and a method of its operation. The invention also relates to a device for sleep analysis, a method of current sleep phase classification and use of the system and the device for polyphasic sleep management.

1 . A system for polyphasic sleep management, characterized in that it comprises components such as
 electrodes for measuring a biological signal;   a biological amplifier for amplifying the biological signal;   a microcontroller for controlling individual system components, such as a biological amplifier and an accelerometer, as well as for communication with an external device;   an accelerometer for collecting data relating to user's movement frequency;   an external device, such as a computer, tablet and a mobile phone.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it comprises at least 3 electrodes, two frontal ones for measuring a biological signal, connected to the input of the biological amplifier and a central one connected to the ground of the amplifier. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that it additionally comprises two zygomatic electrodes and two temporal electrodes. 
     
     
         4 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that in the biological amplifier the signal is initially high-pass filtered by the input followers and amplified; afterwards it is band-stop filtered with an active filter of the ‘double-T’ type, followed by low-pass filtering with a quaternary filter of Butterworth characteristic, which simultaneously additionally amplifies the signal, and the last amplifying stage is realized using a bilateral switch. 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the microcontroller classifies the current sleep phase based on the biological signal received by the analog-to-digital converter and the data from the accelerometer, and sends the obtained results to the external device. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the microcontroller communicates with the external device via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) interface. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the accelerometer additionally wakes the microcontroller from sleep mode. 
     
     
         8 . A device for sleep analysis, characterized in that it comprises:
 a mask, acting as a carrier component, for mounting on the user's head;   at least one PCB plate ( 12 ,   at least three electrodes, two frontal ones ( 1 ), for measuring a biological signal connected to the input of a biological amplifier ( 11 ) and a central one ( 2 ) connected to the ground of the amplifier ( 11 ), and   a power source ( 9 ), such as an accumulator battery;   wherein the PCB plate ( 12 ) contains components such as   a microcontroller ( 5 ) for controlling individual system components, such as a biological amplifier ( 11 ) and an accelerometer ( 7 ), as well as for communication with an external device;   a biological amplifier ( 11 ) for amplifying the biological signal;   an accelerometer ( 7 ) for collecting data relating to user's movement frequency.   
     
     
         9 . The device according to  claim 8 , characterized in that it additionally comprises an integrated antenna ( 6 ). 
     
     
         10 . The device according to  claim 8 , characterized in that it additionally comprises at least one light source ( 8 ), such as a one-color LED, a multicolored RGB LED, a lightbulb. 
     
     
         11 . The device according to  claim 8 , characterized in that it additionally comprises a vibrating component ( 10 ). 
     
     
         12 . The device according to  claim 8 , characterized in that it additionally comprises two zygomatic electrodes ( 4 ) and two temporal electrodes ( 3 ). 
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 1 , characterized in that the components such as:
 the electrodes for measuring a biological signal;   the biological amplifier for amplifying the biological signal;   the microcontroller for controlling the individual system components such as the biological amplifier and the accelerometer, as well as for communication with an external device;   the accelerometer for collecting data relating to user's movement frequency;   are integrated in one device for sleep analysis, as defined in  claim 8 .   
     
     
         14 . A method of operation of the system defined in  claim 13 , characterized in that it comprises steps, wherein:
 the system is activated,   the device for sleep analysis is initialized;   connection is established between the device for sleep analysis and an external device, which subsequently sends configuration data such as the waking hour, duration of the waking buffer, the waking method;   the device for sleep analysis is mounted on the user's head;   electrodes contact with the user's skin is tested;   a biological signal is measured;   the current sleep phase is classified;   waking is commenced in the suitable sleep phase;   data is sent to the external device;   the device for sleep analysis is brought into sleep mode, wherein it awaits re-initialization.   
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , characterized in that the device for sleep analysis is initialized by an event from the accelerometer. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 14 , characterized in that the connection between the device for sleep analysis and the external device is established using a wireless Bluetooth technology. 
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 14 , characterized in that the waking is commenced after the first REM phase detected during the course of the waking buffer or after reaching operation limit for the device. 
     
     
         18 . A method of current sleep phase classification, characterized in that it comprises steps, wherein:
 electrodes test is performed in order to confirm the possibility of measuring a biological signal;   amplification by the biological amplifier is regulated based on a test run, so that the maximal signal value does not exceed the acceptable voltage value for the analog-to-digital converter;   an n-seconds signal fragment is acquired;   an amplitude spectrum for the acquired signal is calculated k-times using Fast Fourier Transform, FFT;   the calculated spectra are averaged and normalized;   a feature vector for the averaged and normalized spectra and the accelerometer data is generated;   the obtained feature vector is compared with standards for individual sleep phases;   the sleep phase corresponding to the standard with the highest correlation with the feature vector is selected.   
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 18 , characterized in that in case of negative result of the electrodes test, a feature vector is generated only from accelerometer data, followed by comparison of the obtained feature vector with the standards for individual sleep phases and the sleep phase corresponding to the standard with the highest correlation with the feature vector is selected. 
     
     
         20 . Use of the system according to  claim 1  for polyphasic sleep management. 
     
     
         21 . Use of the device according to  claim 8  for polyphasic sleep management.